EAST RUTHERFORD – Eli Manning has been described as "disinterested" by some outside analysts looking for reasons to explain the quarterback's struggles in the new offense.

And while we're not freeing Manning from blame, we just don't think a lack of interest is the central issue here. During practice today, I made sure to watch the way Manning was interacting with his receivers and I saw a quarterback more invested in getting his routes down than a season before.

This was especially true when he was working with Marcus Harris and Corey Washington, two undrafted free agents who will almost certainly be on the 53-man roster when the regular season rolls around.

After practice, I asked Victor Cruz if he saw it, too. That leads our five observations today:

1. A more invested Eli Manning:

"Today down in the green zone he was seeing a lot of things that were developing and talking to us a little bit more," Cruz said. "He's been that way throughout (this preseason). He's been good about talking to us about how he feels, how we should run certain routes and where he wants to hit us. Today was probably a little more than usual, too."

Cruz said that having Washington and Harris become a big part of the offense has made the need for Manning's leadership even greater. Cruz has been instrumental as well.

"We try and bring them along, those are guys that are good players that are seeing some time and you want to get them on the field and show them what they're supposed to do the right way."

2. Some special teams surprises

Special teams are often the answer to figuring out who will end up on the team's final 53-man roster. Today, we saw backup guard John Sullen and Kellen Davis on with the field goal unit. Charles James and Marcus Harris were on kickoff/kickoff return as well as Nat Berhe and Bennett Jackson.

Mark Herzlich and Spencer Paysinger were both spread out across a few specials.

3. The ever-shifting offensive line

By now, this isn't a surprise that the Giants want to be versatile, but today I saw them unveil what looks like their best five so far (this is assuming that Beatty still isn't 100 percent healthy). Justin Pugh played left tackle, Weston Richburg played left guard, J.D. Walton played center, Brandon Mosley played right guard and Geoff Schwartz was at right tackle.

A few guys were shifted out of their natural positions, and while we don't know exactly how Pugh will handle the left side, it seems to make the most sense if Beatty can't return to form. Pugh is one of the Giants' best lineman technique-wise, and having him at the most important position is smart. They'll find out quickly if he can be a legitimate left tackle.

4. Offense starting to make some strides

There's a real possibility that, with limited coaching time in the preseason and almost no game planning through the first three preseason games, the offense had little direction in their dreadful outings against Indianapolis and Pittsburgh. Game planning should help that, as we saw a few nice open looks for Victor Cruz during practice today, including a timing route during green zone drills. Now, if the offensive line can just hold up...

5. Mathias Kiwanuka could (and should) be a captain this year

There hasn't been a day that I've watched players come in from practice that Mathias Kiwanuka hasn't stayed late to help someone. Lately, I've seen him with rookie Kerry Wynn, an undrafted free agent out of Richmond. Wynn has a great frame and solid speed. Some around the team's personnel department think he could make a run at a roster spot along with Georgia Tech UDFA Emmanuel Dieke.